Steve Backshall has said that tracking down the Deadly 60 is nothing compared to facing Strictly Come Dancing's four judges.

The CBBC wildlife show presenter is known for his bravery in confronting the world's most dangerous creatures, but is taking on terror of a new kind in the BBC dancing contest.

He said: "This whole experience is so much more frightening to me than anything I've ever done before - it makes sharks and snakes and scorpions look like nothing.

"At the same time, if the judges are horrible to me, it doesn't matter because they are criticising dancing and I'm not a dancer."

Steve said the show's launch red carpet was a change of pace for him: "I have the least celeb lifestyle you could ever imagine. To go from a couple of weeks ago I was in the Arctic, now I'm walking down a red carpet covered by glitz and glamour and baubles, it's incredible.

"My wardrobe consists entirely of army surplus trousers and an old grey t-shirt, and now I'm wearing this - have you ever seen so many sequins in your entire life? It's ridiculous."

He added: "It's nothing to do with my career and what I do in the rest of my life, but that's kind of the point. It's just taking a couple of months off to be fabulous."

Steve spends a lot of time in Latin America for his TV show and said he hoped Strictly would help him pick up some moves to take back on his next trip.

He said: "I've been to the big salsa clubs in Brazil where there are thousands of people dancing at any one time. I've been to the places in Argentina where they're dancing tango and the energy you get is fantastic, but I've always been an outsider. Now there's a possibility that I might be able to actually get involved."

Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One on September 7 at 8pm.

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